A nine-year-old Minnesota boy went through security at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, boarded a Delta flight without a ticket and flew to Las Vegas by himself, an airport spokesman told the AP.

The flight crew realized while in the air that the boy was not on their list of unattended minors, and arranged for Las Vegas police to meet him upon landing and place him in the custody of child protection services.

“It’s hard to piece anything together from his stories why he got on the flight and went to Las Vegas,” Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan told the AP.

It seems the boy had street smarts beyond his years. First, he grabbed a bag from a carousel and ordered lunch from an airport restaurant. After he ate, he told the server he had to use the bathroom and left without returning to pay, leaving the suitcase behind him (the bag was returned to its owner).

Delta and the TSA said in statements they are investigating the incident. Local child protection services were unable to comment due to the boy’s age and to data privacy requirements.